Downsides

If you are between the ages of 18 and 60, do not take any other medications, and have no other medical issues, you are more likely to have the following negative effects:

• Standing causes drowsiness and unsteadiness, increasing the chance of falling.
• May impede response time and make it difficult to drive or operate machines. Stay away from alcohol.
• Common adverse effects include blood pressure reduction, heart palpitations, diarrhea, nausea, dry mouth, headache, and a decrease in libido.
• Xanax has the potential to be addictive, causing emotional or physical reliance that can lead to overdose or death. Assess a person's risk of abuse, overuse, and addiction before administering Xanax.
• Withdrawal symptoms (such as convulsions, tremors, cramping, vomiting, sweating, or sleeplessness) may occur if you stop abruptly; taper down gradually over many months under the guidance of a doctor.
• Smokers may react less strongly to Xanax. Those with liver illness may need to modify their Xanax dosage.

Although Xanax has been used off-label (not an FDA-approved usage but nevertheless a widespread use) to assist sleep in the past, it should not be pushed for this reason unless no other option is available. Benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, shorten the duration of deep or slow-wave sleep (which corresponds with how refreshed you feel in the morning) and are linked to addiction, dependency, and tolerance (where progressively larger dosages of the same drug are needed to obtain the same effect). When used for sleep, abrupt withdrawal of Xanax has been linked to rebound insomnia, which may be worse than the original sleeping problem.

Combining Xanax with other benzodiazepines (such as diazepam) or opioids (such as oxycodone or hydrocodone) is not recommended. Severe drowsiness, respiratory depression (abnormally slow and shallow breathing), coma, and death are all possible outcomes. Several other medicines, including those that increase or inhibit CYP 3A hepatic enzymes, may also interact. Do not use if you are taking a CYP3A inhibitor such ketoconazole or itraconazole. There have been stories of people dying after using Xanax for severe lung illness.